TEP launches in Africa

Launched in 2012, the Thorn Energy Partnership (TEP) is an exciting venture between Thorn and lighting professionals which aims to promote energy efficiency without sacrificing good lighting performance. Over the past two months, more than 125 partners around the world have signed up, including Mr Serigne Leye Thioune, Technical Director of Dakar, the capital city of Senegal, Africa.

Sharing TEP knowledge is key

Mr Thioune explains: "I maintain and manage Dakar's public lighting so I've been working with Thorn for many years. After hearing about the new Thorn Energy Partnership, I decided to join because as a public lighting professional, I want to benefit from Thorn's knowledge. The TEP training will allow me to improve my understanding of energy efficiency, so I can share it with Dakar city. This is important because the cost of lighting takes up a large part of a heavily cut investment budget. My overall aim is to replace 14,000 lighting points in 2013/14 to reduce light energy consumption by 30-40%."

Elodie Chevrot from Thorn International Sales adds: "The cost of energy in Africa is high and efficiency is particularly important in Senegal because electricity is produced by barrages, which means production depends on rainfall. If the supply does not meet the demand, Senegal has to buy electricity from other countries, which is very expensive."

Crucially, performance lighting and fittings will enable funds previously dedicated to energy costs to be allocated to new equipment projects in several areas of the city where there is no lighting. This will increase safety and reduce violence across the city. "Ultimately, we want to make Dakar a safe, well-lit city and TEP provides a viable way for us to afford this," says Mr Thioune.

TEP influences fittings and power

By becoming a TEP Partner, Mr Thioune has been able to adjust the choice of fittings and power of installations from 400 or 250W, as usually required in African tenders, to 150, 100 and 70W, while still satisfying the lighting level requirements.

In fact, the only way to reduce the energy consumption in Africa is to reduce the power using luminaires such as Oracle S, Avenue F, Dyana 1, and Krystal 1 and 3. The instability of the electricity network (frequency and voltage) means it is very difficult to use LED fittings or other electronic-based technologies.

As for plans across Africa, Elodie explains Senegal will be the starting point of a pan-African TEP-club. She also adds that interest in joining the TEP is strong across other countries too. In Turkey in particular, until recently the government paid all electricity costs. Each municipality now however has to pay its own electricity bill, so reducing energy consumption has become a key priority.

Find out more about the TEP

For more information about the TEP, please click here.

Link to: https://tep.thornlighting.com/about-tep

Become a TEP Partner

To register your interest in becoming a Thorn Energy Partner, please click here.